Pierre-Auguste Renoir was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty and especially feminine sensuality, it has been said that "Renoir is the final representative of a tradition which runs directly from Rubens to Watteau."
The Charleston is a dance named after the harbor city of Charleston, South Carolina. The rhythm was popularized in mainstream dance music in the United States by a 1923 tune called "The Charleston" by composer/pianist James P. Johnson, which originated in the Broadway show Runnin' Wild and became one of the most popular hits of the decade. Runnin' Wild ran from 28 October 1923 through 28 June 1924. The Charleston dance's peak popularity occurred from mid-1926 to 1927.
Maurice Utrillo, born Maurice Valadon; 26 December 1883 – 5 November 1955), was a French painter of the School of Paris who specialized in cityscapes. From the Montmartre quarter of Paris, France, Utrillo is one of the few famous painters of Montmartre to have been born there.
Jean Renoir was a French film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and author. His La Grande Illusion (1937) and The Rules of the Game (1939) are often cited by critics as among the greatest films ever made. In 2002, he was ranked fourth on the BFI's Sight & Sound poll of the greatest directors. Among numerous honours accrued during his lifetime, he received a Lifetime Achievement Academy Award in 1975. Renoir was the son of the painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir and the uncle of the cinematographer Claude Renoir. With Claude, he made The River (1951), the first color film shot in India. A lifelong lover of theater, Renoir turned to the stage for The Golden Coach (1952) and French Cancan (1955). He was one of the first filmmakers to be known as an auteur; the critic Penelope Gilliatt said a Renoir shot could be identified "in a thousand miles of film."
Vivre sa vie is a 1962 French New Wave drama film written and directed by Jean-Luc Godard. The film was released in the United States as My Life to Live and in the United Kingdom as It's My Life.
Yves Allégret was a French film director, often working in the film noir genre. He was born in Asnières-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine and died in Paris.
Harry J. Wild, A.S.C. was a film and television cinematographer. Wild worked at RKO Pictures studios from 1931 through the 1950s. In total Wild was involved in 91 major film projects and two extended television series.
Pierre Braunberger was a French producer, executive producer, and actor.
Gilles Bourdos is a French film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known for his atmospheric cinema, which uses troubling themes in contrast with strong aesthetic imagery. He was one of the founders of the French production company Persona Films which produced most of his early work. Bourdos often collaborates with filmmaker Michel Spinosa, cinematographer Mark Lee Ping Bin and musician Alexandre Desplat.
Picnic on the Grass is a 1959 French comedy film written and directed by Jean Renoir, starring Paul Meurisse, Fernand Sardou and Catherine Rouvel. It is known in the United Kingdom by its original title or in translation as Lunch on the Grass. A satire on contemporary science and politics, it revolves around a prominent biologist and politician who wants to replace sex with artificial insemination, but begins to reconsider when a picnic he organizes is interrupted by the forces of nature. The film brings up issues of modernity, human reproduction, youth and European integration. It ridicules rationalist idealism and celebrates a type of materialism it associates with classical mythology and ancient Greek philosophy.
René Lefèvre was a French actor and writer. Throughout his career, he worked with several notable directors, like Jean Renoir, Jean-Pierre Melville, Jules Dassin, and René Clair.
Nana is a 1926 French silent drama film directed by Jean Renoir and starring Catherine Hessling, Werner Krauss and Jean Angelo. It was Renoir's second full-length film and is based on the 1880 novel by Émile Zola.
Catherine Hessling was a French actress and the first wife of film director Jean Renoir. Hessling appeared in 15, mostly silent, films before retiring from the acting profession and withdrawing from public life in the mid-1930s.
The Whirlpool of Fate or The Girl of the Water is a 1925 French silent drama film directed by Jean Renoir and starring Catherine Hessling as its heroine.
Janie Marèse was a French actress who appeared in four shorts and three feature-length films, most notably Jean Renoir's second sound film La Chienne, before her death at age 23, in a road accident.
Jean Bachelet was a French cinematographer who started as a newsreel cameraman and whose numerous theatrical films include The Rules of the Game (1939) for Jean Renoir.
Renoir is a 2012 French drama film based on the last years of Pierre-Auguste Renoir at Cagnes-sur-Mer during World War I. The film was directed by Gilles Bourdos and competed in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. The film is set in the south of France during World War I and stars Michel Bouquet, Christa Theret, Thomas Doret and Vincent Rottiers.
Alain Renoir was a French-American writer and literature professor, son of filmmaker Jean Renoir and actress Catherine Hessling, and grandson of impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir.
Personal Column is a 1939 French thriller film directed by Robert Siodmak and starring Maurice Chevalier, Pierre Renoir, Marie Déa and Erich von Stroheim. It was shot at the Joinville Studios in Paris. The film's sets were designed by the art directors Maurice Colasson and Georges Wakhévitch. Lured, an American re-make, directed by Douglas Sirk and starring Lucille Ball, was released in 1947.
Johnny Hudgins was a vaudeville performer. He sometimes performed in blackface. Hudgins was nicknamed the Wah-Wah Man (wah-wah) and was known for his mime performances accompanied by accomplished trumpeters. He was friends with fellow vaudevillian Josephine Baker who he performed with in the show Chocolate Dandies. He was also in the show Lucky Sambo. He used burnt cork to blacken his face and performed with exaggerated white lips in many of his performances. His performances drew rave reviews and imitators. Hudgins sought to copyright his performance art.
